Government today ruled out the resignation of the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Niranjan Jyoti. Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, Ms Jyoti has already apologised for her remarks.
He recalled that several Congress Ministers in the past made obnoxious and derogatory remarks against leaders of other parties. Mr Naidu urged Opposition parties not to disrupt proceedings in Parliament. He said, the Congress and other parties should play a constructive and positive role for smooth functioning of both the Houses.
For second consecutive day today, both the Houses of Parliament witnessed uproarious scenes as Opposition demanded resignation of Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti for her derogatory remarks. Our correspondent reports that the proceedings of Rajya Sabha were marred by the continuous disruption which compelled the Deputy Chairman to adjourn the House for the day. Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party members kept on trooping into the well of the House in support of their demand. The opposition members did not even allow External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to make a statement on the foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Lok Sabha, opposition members including Congress, Samajwadi Party, TMC and Aam Aadmi Party staged a walkout over the issue. Meanwhile, the Congress today said it will continue with its demand for resignation of Union Minister Niranjan Jyoti for her derogatory remarks, till she steps down. Party spokesman Rajeeve Gowda demanded lodging of an FIR against Ms Jyoti. He was replying to a media query that the government has ruled out her resignation as the Minister had already apologised.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said that it is wrong to continuously disrupt Parliament over the remarks of Union State Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, even after the Treasury Bench has disown and disapproved the remark and the Minister herself has express regret over it in the Parliament. Speaking to media a short while ago in Ranchi, Mr. Paswan said that earlier it was hard even for an MP to express regret over their un-parliamentary remarks.
He added that Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti has struggled a lot, and she is the first time MP and Minister, so the opposition should not try to make a mountain out of mole. In a reply to question Mr. Paswan said that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and President Sonia Gandhi have become invisible and insignificant now, and their irrational criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi can not take away the credit for good works he is doing.
